Truck racks, or truck rail systems, are often homemade consisting of bars or boards attached to posts that fit into the sockets provided in certain truck beds. When not used the racks are removed from the sockets and stored. Such racks are typically very heavy making them difficult for a single person to install.
Certain prior art permanently arranged truck racks have hinged posts which can be either folded inwardly to reduce the size of the rack by disposing the inner portion of the rack inside a truck bed such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,224,126, or folded outwardly to provide a lateral platform such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,856,225, where the racks remain visible.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,460,864 discloses a collapsible truck rack including a series of sets of parallel bars, connected together by a parallel motion mechanism in the form of pivotable links and mounted in a series of vertical posts which are hinged so that in a collapsed condition the posts fold longitudinally over the collapsed set of bars. The collapsible truck rack and its many moveable parts are subject to erosion due to water, dirt, and the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,792 describe a removable rack system that includes a plurality of vertical support poles that fit into the sockets of truck beds and numerous parts that must be removably secured to the support poles and to each other. The system is generally unsightly and not easily convertible.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,332,637 discloses a rack for securing cargo to a vehicle that includes first and second base rails attached to the top of the sides of the bed of a truck and first and second collapsible posts having first and second hinged ends and first and second slide ends where the base rails fold together when the rack is not in use but can be raised within seconds to convert to a cargo carrying position. The rack and its moveable parts are subject to erosion due to water, dirt, and the like and the rack remains visible when not in use.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,634,689 discloses retractable truck cargo support walls having horizontal members having hollow interior spaces to receive vertical members and other horizontal members to stack the horizontal members with a low profile on the sides of the truck in a retracted position. The rack and its moveable parts are subject to erosion due to water, dirt, and the like and the rack remains visible when not in use.
There is a need for an improved truck rail system.